Summary
The decision by Nestlé UK&I to abandon Fairtrade cocoa purchases and bring sustainability certification in-house, is in line with a wider corporate trend towards in-house certification in response to growing public concern over the need to promote more sustainable child labour free production practices. This can be seen as part of corporate efforts to pre-empt the introduction of potentially costly mandatory ‘due diligence’ regulations. However, moves away from guaranteed farmgate prices and cocoa farming community Premiums, which the abandonment of Fairtrade sourcing represents, demonstrates a singular lack of understanding of the underlying economic forces which drive deforestation, child labour and unsustainable farming practices. To be effective ‘due diligence’ requirements must be based on delivering a decent income to cocoa farmers and must promote thriving cocoa farming communities. To date beyond some rare corporate initiatives only Fairtrade certification has effectively addressed this issue. Without solid economic foundations, deforestation, child labour and sustainable farming practice commitments are likely to face periodic reversals whenever prices take a downturn. Read more “Nestlé’s Withdrawal from Fairtrade Cocoa Purchases Highlights the Need for ‘Due Diligence’ Regulations to Address Price and Income Issues”